Fighter pilots aren't cheap. The U.S. Air Force estimates that training a new pilot to fly a plane like the F-35 costs $11 million. And that doesn't count the priceless experience of a veteran pilot who has been flying for years. That's why the U.S. Air Force is willing to offer half-million-dollar bonuses to retain experienced fighter pilots. So a nation that throws its fighter pilots in jail is not just wasting money, but also an extremely valuable resource. Yet in the name of politics, Turkey's government has purged its air force so badly that it can barely fly its...

On his return from a recent two-day trip to Israel -- where he met with high-level officials -- Adonis Georgiadis, the vice president of Greece's opposition party, New Democracy, declared his support for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. In an interview with Skai Radio on March 7, Georgiadis called it "almost funny to discuss whether Jerusalem is a Jewish city or not." "[It] was founded by the Jews... in ancient times. You can read Flavius Josephus or read Diodoros Siceliotis and see the references to the city of Jerusalem, where there was the High Priest of Solomon's Temple and that...

The PKK threatens to move the battle into Turkey, saying that the battle of Afrin is the beginning real revolution Kurdistan in Turkey and calls Kurdish youth to join the resistance against the Turkish occupation army in every a place.

Israel is currently holding talks with 10 different nations over the possible relocation of their embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely revealed Thursday... Hotovely told American Jewish leaders that Israel is currently engaged in talks with 10 different countries regarding the relocation of their embassies... Hotovely also discussed the politicization of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and the Palestinian Authority leadership's use of what Hotovely termed "fake refugees" as a political weapon against Israel. "For the first time, the Israeli leadership is no longer willing...

On January 20, the Turkish military began an invasion of the Kurdish-controlled Afrin region in northern Syria. TurkeyÂ’s government has declared that its operation aims Â“to preserve SyriaÂ’s territorial integrity,Â” remove Â“terrorist elements,Â” and protect civilians. The Independent, however, published the first Western media report from Afrin, and Robert Fisk reports that the list of dead includes infants. Â“One-year old Wael al-Hussein, a refugeeÂ…was killed on 21 January, six-year old Moussab al-Hussein from Idlib (clearly from another refugee family) on the same day,Â” he writes.Many journalists in Turkey, in the meanwhile, are rubbing their hands. Necati DoÄŸru, a columnist with...

Hezbollah threatened on Sunday to target Israel’s Mediterranean natural gas rigs in a future conflict, the latest in a string of such threats. The terror group, which has sought to position itself as Lebanon’s defense against Israel and amid an ongoing dispute over gas-rich offshore economic waters, released a video that showed what appeared to be drilling platforms floating above Israel’s gas fields with targeting sights superimposed on the images. The video, aired by Israel’s Hadashot TV news, also included quotes from Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah’s Friday speech, in which he warned that the group would retaliate against any Israeli...

In an incident that took place less than two weeks after the Greek Defense Ministry announced that Turkey had violated Greek airspace 138 times in a single day, a Turkish coast guard patrol boat on February 13 rammed a Greek coast guard vessel off the shore of Imia, one of many Greek islands over which Turkey claims sovereignty. Most of the areas within modern Greece's current borders were under the occupation of the Ottoman Empire from the mid-15th century until the Greek War of Independence in 1821 and the establishment of the modern Greek state in 1832. The islands, however,...

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Photo: Wikicommons. The US administration’s work on a new Middle East peace plan is “fairly well advanced” and President Donald Trump will decide when to announce it, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday during a visit to Jordan. Tillerson also signed a five-year aid package that extends US support to Jordan, a key regional ally, despite Trump’s threat to withhold support from states opposed to his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Commenting on the peace plan, Tillerson said: “I have seen the plan. … It’s been under development...

"You can live a normal life here [Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus] if you keep quiet, if you don't tell the truth that we live under Turkish occupation, that much of our territory is a military zone where we can't go." Â— Åžener Levent, owner and editor of the daily newspaper Afrika, in Turkish-occupied Cyprus. In 1974, the Turkish army brutalized and terrorized at least 170,000 indigenous Greek Cypriots into fleeing to the free, southern part of the island, seized their properties, and replaced them with illegal settlers from Turkey. "40,000 Turkish troops remain in Cyprus as a presence that prevents...

WASHINGTON—The Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC) and the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) have launched a national advocacy campaign encouraging U.S. Senators to block a planned sale of U.S. F-35 stealth fighters to Turkey’s increasingly erratic and anti-American Erdogan regime. The ANCA and Hellenic American Leadership Council have joined forces to launch a grassroots campaign to block the impending F-35 sale to Turkey (Graphic: ANCA) This joint Hellenic-Armenian American initiative – the most recent in a series of ANCA-HALC advocacy campaigns – warns Senators against the dangers of providing Erdogan with advanced weapons that he may turn against our...

Unless Trump intends to humiliate himself and America and sell Israel down the river like his predecessors did, the peace process will not be resuscitated. On Tuesday in Bethlehem, the Palestinians demonstrated the choice the Americans now face in their dealings with Fatah – the supposedly moderate PLO faction that controls the Palestinian Authority and the PLO. President Donald Trump and his advisers can play by Fatah’s rules or they can walk away. On Tuesday a delegation of diplomats from the US Consulate in Jerusalem came to Bethlehem to participate in a meeting of the local chamber of commerce. When...

Moscow will work to preserve the Iran nuclear deal despite Donald Trump's recent pledge to change it, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at his annual news conference. "Unfortunately, our American colleagues still want to operate only on the basis of dictating policy, issuing ultimatums, they do not want to hear the perspectives of other centers of world politics," Lavrov said on Monday. The US is refusing to "acknowledge the reality of the emerging multi-polar world," he added. The Russian foreign minister said that statements coming from the US also "seriously aggravated" tensions in other parts of the world, including...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, January 12, 2018 Former President of Maryland-Based Transportation Company Indicted on 11 Counts Related to Foreign Bribery, Fraud and Money Laundering Scheme Executive Allegedly Paid Bribes to a Russian Official So His Company Could Win Highly Sensitive Nuclear Fuel Transportation Contracts....Mark Lambert, 54, of Mount Airy, Maryland, was charged in an 11-count indictment with one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and to commit wire fraud, seven counts of violating the FCPA, two counts of wire fraud and one count of international promotion money laundering. The charges stem from an alleged...

Former President of Maryland-Based Transportation Company Indicted on 11 Counts Related to Foreign Bribery, Fraud and Money Laundering Scheme Executive Allegedly Paid Bribes to a Russian Official So His Company Could Win Highly Sensitive Nuclear Fuel Transportation Contracts An indictment against a former co-president of a Maryland-based transportation company that provides services for the transportation of nuclear materials to customers in the United States and abroad, was unsealed today for his alleged role in a scheme that involved the bribery of an official at a subsidiary of Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation. Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of...

An indictment against a former co-president of a Maryland-based transportation company that provides services for the transportation of nuclear materials to customers in the United States and abroad, was unsealed today for his alleged role in a scheme that involved the bribery of an official at a subsidiary of Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation. Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen M. Schenning of the District of Maryland, Principal Deputy Inspector General April G. Stephenson of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General (DOE-OIG) and Assistant Director in...

The founder and owner of Frederick’s Dragon Distillery was indicted Friday for his alleged role in bribing a Russian atomic energy official to win government contracts for the company he formerly co-owned. Mark Lambert, 54, of Mount Airy, faces 11 charges including violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and wire fraud, according to a U.S. Department of Justice statement released Friday. “We categorically reject the charges and are eager to dispute and defeat them in court,” William M. Sullivan Jr., attorney for Lambert, said in an email Friday. Lambert, who owns Dragon Distillery in Frederick, is the former...

U.S. authorities have charged a Maryland businessman with bribing a Russian official in an effort to win contracts to ship uranium to the United States. U.S. prosecutors unsealed money laundering, foreign bribery and wire fraud charges against Mark Lambert, 54, in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, on Friday. Lambert denies the allegations and plans to fight them in court, his attorney William Sullivan said during a pre-trial hearing. Prosecutors allege Lambert, former co-president of a Maryland-based shipping company Transport Logistics International (TLI), bribed a Russian energy official through a series of shell companies in Cyprus, Latvia and Switzerland in exchange...

Macron's statement lays blame on France’s allies rather than its estranged trade partner Iran for a perceived risk of escalation. ...“The official line pursued by the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia, who are our allies in many ways, is almost one that would lead us to war,” Macron said in his statement,.... which is unusual in that it lays blame on France’s allies rather than its estranged trade partner Iran for a perceived risk of escalation.

Both Israeli and Palestinian leaders want Norway to facilitate future peace talks, says Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide, who met with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on Monday. Søreide also met with Palestinian lead negotiator Saeb Erekat. Following the meetings, the foreign minister told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that leaders in both Palestine and Israel want Norway to facilitate future peace talks between the two countries. “Both Israeli and Palestinian leaders would like Norway to facilitate potential future peace talks,” she told NRK. Søreide also stressed that the situation remains difficult and that she was realistic about the peace process. The minister...

Iran declared Jerusalem the "capital of Palestine" on Wednesday following a parliamentary vote, according to the country's semi-official Fars news agency. Iran's announcement to recognize the holy city as the “Palestinian capital forever” comes in direct response to President Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. “It comes in response to the recent U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in hopes of dealing a blow to Muslims,” said Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, according to Turkey's Anadolu news agency.